Hi all
Looking for advice.
I have been renting a property for 1 year and had nothing but problems since moving in, the landlord says not their fault repairs were not carried out quickly, and lack of tradesmen are to blame.
Had a leak under the sink which took 4 weeks to fix, and has now rotted the wood underneath
Fire alarms needed replacing and took 5 weeks to do (no working fire alarms for that time) electrician said the existing smoke alarms were not connected to each other, does this matter?
2x leak from the bathroom which penetrated the ceiling and has cracked the plaster significantly, both times the electric was tripped, and i was asked to drain water from the light fitting myself to aid with the drying process.
I had to arrange for the plumber to fix the leak myself via the insurance, and the work to fix the ceiling is still not done, 5 weeks on, the plaster is splitting and small pieces are falling off and its also giving off a strange smell, copper like. The leak has ruined my sofa which was underneath.
Corroded kitchen tap spraying water on to the wall behind was fixed today after 9 weeks, and the new tap has been fitted back to front so the hot water is on the right and the cold on the left.
There have been many other issues such as kitchen lights not working which had been remedied within a reasonable amount of time.
Am i being ridiculous here, or is this an unusual amount of issues to be experiencing, i keep the house in good order, clean and tidy, and the landlord is happy with how we have looked after it.
What should be reasonable here? I work from home full time and the experience is very stressful, many promised visits from tradesmen via the landlord who often dont show up and i have to chase.
Im not looking to create drama here, im genuinely curious of others views for issues like this and how long you would expect a repair to take?
some problems can easily wait several weeks to be fixed and are more annoyances rather than being anything significant.
If damage is caused due to delayed time scales LL should fix.
I have several tradesmen I use, if all busy then I ring around if dragging on. Believe me it can be difficult to get someone at short notice so waiting is very typical. As a tenant I would be satisfied they are just being dealt with.
Expect to be compensated by LL if ruined sofa, you may find a professional clean will sort it or a professional repair potentially.
Draining the light yourself I would say is not an unreasonable request.
Does sound like quite a few problems at once though so maybe just not been maintained great. Sometimes they just happen together. Give LL chance to get things sorted and then reconsider if things not moving along.
I appreciate totally that tradesmen are busy, the difficulty we have here is that the landlord is only willing to use friends of friends, i assume the challenge here is the potential cost if mates rates are not involved.
I have personally phoned around before and found availability.
The landlord is selling this property now, so has asked us to move on at the end of the tenancy.
The landlord is becoming interested in the huge crack across the ceiling now, as i suspect it’ll create questions and concerns for any potential new owners.
Im not kidding when i say, we have had problems every month since moving in, but recognise some of them were minor things.
I am especially concerned about how long repairs are taking to the ceiling when the plasterboard is split and looks very unstable
We have just been left to get on with it really up until the landlord decided its time to sell.
We are expected to co-operate with viewings, photos etc, but not expected to complain about the repairs that are needed.
I wouldn’t do it that way by relying on friends of friends etc. I want to keep tenant happy as they are more likely to stay, but as LL is selling they obviously don’t have to worry about this so are being selfish imo. There is however something to be said for using people you know and are dependable and competent.
I think the reality is you just have to put up with it and just focus on lining up your next property. You can keep reminding them but it sounds like he’s doing bare minimum now as doesn’t want to fork out unnecessarily. What’s reasonable is subjective.
You may have a case for rent reduction, I would consider suggesting this.
if landlord knew of some issues before you moved in, he should have informed you that they will be rectified as soon as possible. This summer has actually been the most busiest as covid restrictions eased generally tradesman are difficult to get in summer. Even for a whole house paint job I might have called around 40 painters this time!, from various platforms.
For small jobs they don’t come especially in busy periods. If I were you have a good chat with the LL, agree on priorities, time scale is only for emergency issues. If you have previously rented via agents, you will have experience of how you are back and forth in between them! They too have the same problem! , atleast your LL is approachable and things are getting sorted directly. Using friends is a good thing because they can come back and rectify if something is not fixed properly. Most take your money and sometimes not even traceable, we don’t want that. Good luck.
Thanks Mark, appreciate your reply.
I had suggested the rent reduction for the remaining term, but this was refused on the basis that the landlord is losing money on the property, and that an estate agent had informed them that they have let similar properties for more than we pay.
Not taking into account the issues faced, obviously.
Unfortunately i have done all of this already, and got no where so far.
Friends of friends is not the problem, and agree they are ideal but where they are not available, alternatives should be sought, this doesnt happen.
A stern letter to agent and landlord advising how it’s no longer acceptable, (if you feel you have given enough time to rectify.)
Illustrate your points in a succinct form, bullet pointed and specify dates.
Remind them that there are more efficient alternatives to resolving and that going the cheap route is not reasonable as their are viable alternatives and it’s negatively impacting greatly on your life. Remind them you have been reasonable and patient.
Remind them they are not fulfilling their responsibilities in a timely fashion.
Advise you will be seeking compensation and costs associated will be sought to be claimed if things arnt sorted.
However consider what impact this may have on a reference from landlord.
Thats effectively where i got to yesterday, so i suspect a reference is a write off already, having said that, i dont see why i should have to put up with it, and feeling as though you cant be firm in fear of a bad or lack of a reference is really quite disheartening considering i pay to live here and we have been good tenants (landlords words) that was before my note advising of further action mind.
I had originally sent a formal letter in July which didnt result in any action.
Landlord responded and said delays not their fault and left it at that, moved back on to allowing viewings etc.
On a positive note, i keep a record of everything and can prove everything, so id hope it might work in my favour for future lets.
Not all landlords are bad, but its certainly given me a poor experience. Shame really
it is unfair to hold references back for a cooperating tenant, even if they r uncooperative if they had paid the rent on time I give reference, despite my good will I do get no regard or respect as some tenants think it is their right! however when I screen prospective tenants I don’t give much weightage to reference from landlord or agents as I find that there are hidden agendas. You will be surprised to see how easy it is to get a tenancy thro agents, and short cuts they use to get commission. Later on after sign up for tenancy left in limbo! looks like there is some good will left, harvest it and move on if that is your choice. Even enemies become friends in life which is too long!keep it simple
It sounds like a combination of bad luck, a badly maintained property and an over-stretched landlord. I would suggest you resign yourself to leaving and negotiate an exit date that suits you with a good reference.
I agree with most comments here with a couple of additional remarks.
Firstly I have to reinforce the situation regarding availability of trades people. There is a huge shortage as people retire and very few young people are prepared to even consider physical labour nowadays despite skilled people being able to make a very comfortable living. And whilst ringing around may find someone available you need to consider that it is almost inevitable that those people are usually the ones who don’t do a great job -that’s why they aren’t working. I know my - very trustworthy - plumber and electrician are booked up weeks ahead.
Secondly, regarding your damaged belongings. These should be covered by your contents insurance.rather than the Landlord unless they can be shown to have been negligent.
But tenant should be able to ask for the excess. And what if it’s not worth claiming as item is less,same cost as excess or even if more, it cause your insurance to go up. Not fair on tenant. But yes tenants should always have their own home contents insurance
Also, it’s a complete nightmare these days getting trades people & yes they are booked up way in advance, & there are terrible cowboys out there so I only use people I know or who come recommended by people I know. So a lot of it dies not seem unreasonable to me. It’s possible sone of these things coujd have been prevented with proactive maintenance but also it could just as easily be bad luck.seems like you do not have evidence either way. A decent landlord would offer something. I’ve just offered to repaint the entire fiat while tenants were on holiday simply to freshen it up. It absolutely was not necessary.
I’ve had situations where there have been a string of problems which were to do with communal areas causing jeans etc & in that case there’s nothing I can do but sit and wait it out whine chasing them up every day. It can become a part time job to reuse in these situations, not just a simple call!!